What I Learned in 2017

It is December 2017, and honestly, not everything went as planned this year. I had “a brief stint of adulting” and I was restless and ready to move on, and make my life happen. Now it is months and months later, and I feel like I took one step ahead and two steps back. Well, kind of anyway.

This is the situation. Next week I will be graduation from my Travel and Tourism Management Course from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. The one year course will be over and I think I feel ready to leave university behind for a while. The final exam and the graduation ceremony will be in Arkhangelsk, Russia and I absolutely can not wait. I am also currently balancing two part-time jobs, one doing Social Media, one working in a hotel. My English love is in Norway with me, and we are loving experiencing the Arctic seasons together. These are all great things. However, after eight months of traveling, working odd hours, living at home, living in the UK, working 120% each week and only working a couple of hours… I miss adulting. I miss routine. I miss having an office to go to every day, following my to-do lists, going to the gym and knowing what the week looks like.

When I read my post from the beginning of the year I realise how much I have changed, and how my perspective has changed with new experiences. During this year I had a job interview with one of the most reputable tourism businesses in Norway, but didn’t get the job. I learned that although I feel like an adult, I am insecure. During this year I had my first real job in the service industry. I learned that servers are heroes, and receptionist have to accept a lot of negativity for things they don’t even know anything about, with a smile. During 2017 I wrote a thesis about film-tourism, but learned more about Destination Development than anything else. I travelled around Europe for almost a month, and I learned that strange things are only scary until you experience them. This year I got to learn to not take what I have for granted, and to sweat the small stuff less. I have also discovered that I still don’t know what the dream is.

That is, I know now that I do want a life with routine, as well as adventures. I am my best self when I can plan everyday life ahead, stay busy and surround myself with good people. I am my best self when I can relax in the little moments at home, as well as on a beach in some foreign country. I am my best self when I can feel physically strong, mentally capable and emotionally free. These are the things I need to prioritise going ahead in 2018. My ultimate goal is just to be happy, and live a life that is full of memories with people I love. I think it’s a sign that I am growing up that I am building less castles in the air, and building more life.

This is not all that I have learned this year, but it is what I felt strongly about today in particular. I don’t know if I will manage to land a full-time job in 2018, or if my English love will be able to stay in the country, or even if I will be able to leave my home town. But I hope so. Despite having gone one step forward and two steps back I still believe in walking the path and ending up where I was supposed to. Eventually.

Hopefully another year down the line I will be able to update you in another post, having learned even more about myself and the grand world around me,